


Tolerance

by FishSlapper



Series: Interrupt AU [1]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Arguing, Being Walked In On, Dorks in Love, Fill For An Old Prompt, Fluffy Ending, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Kinkmeme, M/M, My First Smut, Sexual Content, adults using their words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:30:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4979062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FishSlapper/pseuds/FishSlapper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hollis walks in on Dan and Rorschach having sex. He is not pleased.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sex

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: http://spam-monster.livejournal.com/2938.html?thread=6013050#t6013050
> 
> The first chapter is short because it's just the initial smut.

Rorschach's breath hitched and then flattened into a long moan as he pushed in. Dan loved how responsive he was, even if the man couldn't appreciate it himself. Practically every inch of his skin was sensitive and would elicit various reactions. His favorite was probably the pleasured moans that slipped through when Dan's dick rubbed just right inside him. A close second were needy whimpers with content sighs in a tight third. Anything related to orgasm got its own special category all to itself.

Dan always took a bit to start up a rhythm. It simply seemed like a good idea to ease Rorschach into the feeling. Lots of kissing kept Rorschach calm and both of them patient. Hands finally released the sheets to encircle Dan's back. That was more or less Dan's cue that restraints were loosened.

A kiss to the clavicle as he applied more speed gifted him a mewl that landed pretty high on the list as well, possibly even knocking content sighs down a rung. He kissed a trail along the bone and up his throat. He could feel the pleasured whine as he sucked on his Adam’s apple. He hummed his own moan of contentment into the throat and felt the swallow ripple down.

Rorschach's hands found a handhold in Dan's hair, keeping his mouth against his throat (one of his hot spots, Dan had figured out early on), and the other on the small of his back. His hands traced their own paths over the man's nipples, pinching and rubbing. The chest responded by arching into the ministrations accompanied by one of those content sighs. A feather light drag of nails down the man's flank caused minute jumps as the sensitive skin shuddered under the touch.

Dan left one of the hands to knead muscle (and dear god was Rorschach taut) and the other to torture the flank a little more until Rorschach psuedo-headbutted him (the angle didn't quite allow a full on headbutt for which Dan was a little glad). Taking the hint, and laughing a little bit at the eagerness, he let the hand trail down into the curls around the man's groin. He got a whine of need and desperate shifting for his trouble. Taking pity, he brought him into hand stroked in contrasting rhythm to his thrusts.

He gave the throat a last teasing lick before capturing those whimpering lips for himself. He hummed, happily at first, and then increasingly lower in tone as his own pleasure deepened. They were both closing in on climax, so Dan moved his kneading hand to capture the wrist tightened on his back. Rorschach sighed with agreement as they linked their hands; it was something Dan had started to help Rorschach through orgasm their first couple of times when he had been more reluctant. It'd developed into a ritual of sorts: clasped hands during release. They both seemed to enjoy the emotional connection behind the gesture.

"Rorschach." Dan groaned into his mouth as he came up for air. Rorschach seemed to have a particular fondness for having his name called, and so Dan indulged in it when he fancied.

"Daniel." Rorschach echoed in a whine or a whimper: Dan was too far gone to tell which to classify it as. He just knew it sounded delicious. Of course Dan had developed his own name kink in response to the sheer emotion that often bled through the way Rorschach would say his name.

"Danny?" That, however, was not so sexy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the first time I'd ever written smut. Hand-clasping thing shamelessly lifted from Dramatical Murder.


	2. Wind up, Fall down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idea of Dan severely lacking a shame reflex is stupidly amusing to me.

Everything came to an abrupt crash like an automobile suddenly put in park after accelerating up to 80 mph.

Dan had three thoughts before he regained enough of himself to pull out and assess the wreck head on. One, he wasn’t sure if it was a good or a bad thing that Rorschach had yet to reveal his face or identity. Two, this couldn’t have happened earlier or waited until after climax? Three, it just had to be fucking Hollis.

A fourth thought hit him while he extricated himself: Rorschach was going to freak the fuck out.

Dan braced himself for a two-front war and positioned himself sideways so as to be able to fight off either enemy.

“Hi, Hollis.” Dan started, letting his displeasure at having been interrupted seep through as though that was the only problem that needed addressing. Unfortunately, sound appeared to shock Rorschach out of his catatonic state and the man grasped at the comforter for cover. Hollis watched all this is hard silence. He was not amused.

Rorschach was making small whimpers behind him and it tugged at Dan’s heartstrings that he couldn’t comfort him as he needed to with Hollis glaring at them like that. This was going to take a level of finesse that perhaps only Ozymandias could conjure up. He watched Rorschach reach over the bedside for his clothes from his peripheries, wanting nothing more than to soothe his fears.

“I’m really seeing this, aren’t I?” Hollis said at last. Rorschach noticeably flinched at the sharp tone. He only had his pinstripe suit top within reach: his pants and coat had been discarded in the kitchen in favor of an initial blowjob (and besides, Dan really liked the way that suit looked on him) and he wasn’t going to be able to fetch them and keep his propriety in check. His other layers had been tossed across the room, so those were a no-go as well.

Not willing to start just yet, not while Rorschach was still trying to button his top with trembling hands, he deflected. “Why are you here, Hollis?”

“You left your coat at my place.” The reprove that underlaid the explanation revealed that Hollis really wished Dan had remembered to take his damn coat with him. “I figured I’d bring it over for you. You didn’t answer the door so I used the spare key.” And then he heard noises from the bedroom. And then Rorschach’s name. “What is this, Danny?”

Dan suddenly felt really glad he lacked whatever it was that made people ashamed to expose their nude bodies in front of others. Never before had the ability to sit butt naked on the edge of his bed, his dick slick with lube and pre-come having just fucked his partner tenderly, presently at half-mast with the realization that his predecessor, hero, and pseudo parent who wasn’t known for his support of homosexuality had caught them mid-act, mortification and frustration coercing it into limpness, been so useful. Forget having his clothes hidden after coming back from swim lessons in sixth grade, this one took the cake.

“Well, this was private.” Dan nearly bit his tongue after the words slipped out of his mouth. His head really wasn’t in a place to be having this conversation. He needed some time to think, compose himself, and come up with a battle plan. His hand wandered behind his partner’s back and attempted to rub soothing circles into his shoulder blades, but Rorschach flinched out of reach at the contact, hunching over himself and pulling at the comforter to separate himself from the world. Which couldn't cover up more than a foot of torso because Dan was sitting on it. Fuck.

“Look, Hollis.” Dan realized this two-front war could not be won. Measures had to be taken. “How about we talk about this some other time?”

Hollis mulled this over for a bit, glaring at the man sitting behind Dan like he was a bad dog that had disobeyed his master, before replying. “Fine. Tomorrow night, my place—”

Dan held a hand to stop him. “Tomorrow night’s fine, but let’s make it here instead. How does ten sound to you?”

“Ten’s fine.” And with one last reproachful stare, Hollis turned and left the doorway with all the grace and presence of the original Nite Owl.

One problem delayed, Dan still had one other left to deal with. He turned to his partner and shifted over to focus all of his affection and attention on him. “Hey.” He cooed. He didn’t really know what to say, but he felt the need to say something. “Rorschach.”

He tried to reach out and touch him again, his shoulder proper this time, and received only a slight shudder in response. It was progress, at least. “Saw.” He mumbled. “Seen.” Dan’s able to translate the fragments as ‘ _He saw us._ ’ and ‘ _We’ve been seen._ ’ respectively. He was unsurprised when he heard an additional, miserable, “Caught.”

He hummed a negative in his throat, pulling his partner into his chest. He was shaking horribly, and that more than anything else fueled his agitation towards Hollis. At least if Hollis had been polite about the whole affair he would have had leeway to forgive, but right now the only thing he had to focus on was calming the man in his arms.

“So what?” Dan realized a second too late that wasn’t the best thing to say, but having already dug the hole he figured he may as well put in foundations. “So what if he saw?”

“Don’t want…” Rorschach’s hands were scrabbling for purchase on Dan’s back to hold him close while trying to nuzzle his face possessively into Dan’s neck. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Dan swore Rorschach, Terror of the Underworld, possessed more heart tugging power than a six year old girl with two missing front teeth and pigtails.

Dan hugged him back tightly. “You aren’t going to lose me. Not over this.” Some part of Dan’s brain that wasn’t quarantined in Optimism Central thought he was more likely to lose Hollis over this than Rorschach, which worried him in its own way. Short of Rorschach leaving town or giving up vigilantism, Dan figured he could handle that half of the equation. Maybe not with ease or without frustration, but he could handle it. Hollis was another matter entirely.

“I asked Hollis to come back here tomorrow night for a reason. You don’t have to be present if you don’t want to, but this way you can eavesdrop should you wish.” He stroked hair through latex and cherished the purr of appreciation he got for his effort.

Rorschach eventually let himself be coaxed to lie down in bed. While Dan had originally promised they could let things slide and just sleep it off, he found himself obnoxiously turned on by the desperate hand jobs that preceded their actual nap.


	3. Polite Liberal Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan and Hollis talk. Sort of.

One day was going to have to be enough time to prepare for all hell to break loose. Dan would have to make it count. Rorschach had more or less put all of the pressure on him, and that was fine because Dan really wasn’t up to picking up his pieces along with his own.

As ten approached, Dan may not exactly have written himself index cards with notes on how to achieve success, but he had at least built up a degree of courage that would be far more invaluable. Still, the sound of the doorbell sent both Rorschach and Dan starting. D-Day had arrived.

Rorschach surprised Dan with a well-meaning handshake that was more like a sandwich charged with unsaid well wishes and good vibes. It was enough to get Dan to smile in the face of everything. A second rapt of knocks knocked them both out of their little world; Rorschach running off to squirrel himself behind the basement door and Dan going open the gates to hell.

The door opened mechanically, a stern face appearing from beyond the frame. “Come in.” Dan said. The ‘on’ had refused to join the sentence, so he defaulted to other manners. “Would you like some coffee?”

The walk to the kitchen was stiff and uncomfortable for both of them. Dan had always been better at defense than offense, in all things. Horrible at starting something, but capable of staying with it until an end point. So he waited.

Hollis didn’t speak until the coffee had been placed in front of him. He didn’t reach for it, or even acknowledge it, simply glanced around the room as if looking for something. Or someone.

“I see he’s not here.” There’s obvious avoidance underlying the words, or rather present in words unsaid.

“No.” Dan said simply, taking a sip of his own mug. He had a feeling he was going to need a lot of it tonight.

Hollis then picked up his mug and blew cooling breaths into it. One cube of sugar was his preference. “He’s behind the basement door, isn’t he?”

Dan’s unfazed and unsurprised by the accurate summation. “Yes.”

Hollis hummed, or was it sighed, at that. After a minute of quiet coffee blowing, he took his first sip. It apparently gave him the courage he needed, too. “Danny.” He already had his attention, but this was meant a warning that he was about to start. He set the mug down on the table and leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms across his chest. “I can’t even pretend to understand. But of all people…”

Dan couldn’t help the flare of irritation that sparked at the insinuation. He clenched his teeth to keep himself rational. Memories popped up unbidden: Rorschach had possessed so much insecurity at the start of their relationship. Still did. The last thing the man needed was another voice in his head telling him he wasn’t worthy. That he was somehow detestable for how he felt.

“Implying something?” Dan pressed coolly. He was only distantly aware that he had imitated his partner’s intimidating fragments. He kind of understood the utility of them now: taking blunt sentences and twisting them into something that had to be analyzed, and the results could mean what one chose to impose upon them. Rorschach had said before that the imagination was intimidation’s sharpest weapon.

Of course this was the original Nite Owl he was talking to. “Danny, you’ve told me yourself that the boy’s not exactly right in the head.”

Dan was trying. He really was trying to keep his temper tamped, but Hollis was saying all the wrong things already. The coffee was a bad idea in hindsight. It was making him jumpy and the warmth only stoked his fire. He had naively thought this argument would lead to enlightening liberal conversation—not necessarily resulting in understanding or blessings, but with allegations of homosexuality—Dan had been prepared to defend his choice of sexing up a man, not his choice of man. He would have deeply preferred the former.

“What are you talking about, Hollis?” The use of the name was a tether point for him. It served to remind him this was an important friend, a mentor, a father; someone he didn’t want to lose to the jaws of prejudice. “I’ve never said anything even remotely like that.”

“You talk about him all the time, Danny. You don’t always get detailed, I’ll admit, but I’ve gathered enough data over the years to put a picture together. Enough to know that he’s violent and selfish.” Hollis licked his lips to wet them. “Enough to know that you know nothing about him. Just last week you mentioned he still hasn’t taken off his mask in front of you.”

“I’ve said that I worry about him. That I care about him. Sure, I’ve complained on occasion,” Dan suddenly really wished Rorschach had decided to pace inside of Archie’s hull instead of eavesdropping, but knew full-well what a hopeless dream that was. Giving him the option to eavesdrop was perhaps a poor idea in hindsight, but then again he’d thought this argument was going to be about a whole other topic. “But it was never anything I wouldn’t say about you or myself or Mike from State Farm.”

“Last I checked it wasn’t normal for a guy to break people’s fingers for giving an answer he doesn’t appreciate or agree with.” Dan raised his eyebrows and tilted his head in a way that had Hollis humming a concession. It wasn’t exactly normal for guys to dress up in weird outfits and traipse around beating up criminals to begin with.

“Sure he has some problems, but I mean, who the fuck doesn’t?” Hollis let the curse slide. Perhaps he understood exactly how frustrated Dan was, that he needed that little bit of stress relief.

“All I’m trying to say is that he’s probably a little unhinged. Dangerous.” His tone shifted to something that opened Dan’s eyes wide: earnest concern. “Danny, I’m worried about you.”

The realization hit him like a sack of bricks. “Now that I think about it: you’ve never accepted him.” He spoke slowly. “You’ve always had a bad word to say about him.” Dan had just looked the other way because he was blinded by denial of a different flavor. “This was never about our relationship. It’s _always_ been about how you don’t trust him.”

“So you are in a relationship.” Hollis muttered it liked it was a surprise, though distaste could still be heard under his breath. “It’s kind of sad that I was hoping it was just sexual.” He sounded like he was still hoping that. Hoping he had misconstrued the use of the word and Dan would correct him and say that it was just sexual or maybe for stress release or just because the other was easily accessible (ha). No way in hell Dan was going to lie about that just to make Hollis get off their backs.

“Yeah,” Dan barked back. “That is sad.” For an entirely different reason than Hollis was insinuating. His temper finally getting the better of him, he decided it was time to play a little offense. “It’s perhaps just as sad that I thought this argument was going to be about exactly that. What with how the Minutemen cast out Silhouette. The way you talk, and sometimes avoid talking, about Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice. Same goes for Dollar Bill and Mothman. That’s why I didn’t tell you about us. I knew you wouldn’t approve and I didn’t want to get into an argument over it.”

"Even if you overlook the baseline problem,” Dan felt like growling at that but bit it back, “those examples are exactly why this is a bad idea. All of those ‘romances’ ended poorly. Yours will be no different."

"Hollis, I respect you. I really do. But if Rorschach and I are to break up, it will be because of something we can't resolve between the two of us. Not because an outside party holds the opinion that our relationship is wrong." Taking the momentum and running with it, he added, “Hell, not because either of us thinks it’s wrong.”

Hollis stilled at that, and then took the bait. “If you think it’s wrong, Danny, then you shouldn’t—”

“I don’t.” Dan cut him off. “He did.” Suddenly he felt like he was venting the usual frustrations that he only complained to Hollis about, that didn’t feel right to release onto his partner. “Sometimes he still does.”

Dan realized his mistake too late.

***

It was mortifying to be talked about behind his back so intimately like this. Reminded him of his mother’s gossip and the children’s bullying from days long past, and the disdain his coworkers and strangers still hold for him. Yet the worst part was that, for the first time, he had a benefactor. Someone to fight for his cause. Raise his flag. Defend his honor.

It made him feel ridiculous. He was ashamed of hiding behind a door the same way he had as a kid, listening to barbed, acidic insults that weren’t said in a heat of anger, and therefore couldn’t be as easily shoved under the carpet, excused, and forgotten. He had grown used to fighting for himself. Rorschach’s reputation had given him a second face to build a new image with. Nite Owl defending him against his previous iteration made him feel weak. Impotent.

He wanted to be right there, beside him, just like he did effortlessly in the clogged veins of the city at night. He couldn’t though. It’d taken him long enough to be comfortable around Daniel and to have someone else stumble in on them—

Not to mention it was Daniel’s mentor. A good friend of his. Important. Not someone to be intimidated or threatened into submission. Rorschach wasn’t good at much else.

It was the shocked epiphany of Daniel’s that brought him out of his self-deprecating stupor. Or rather, the shock in his voice.

It seemed odd for a moment, to be so surprised about something they had been arguing about for several minutes already. Confusion bled into understanding. A mix of autopiloted defense and denial. Rorschach remembered being like that a lot at first. Refused to see, avoidant, wouldn’t talk about it, refused to think about it, refused to think about thinking about it, ignored, ignored, _pretended_ —

He’s still deeply ashamed of how skittish he’d been at first—and that had been after Dan had waded through all of his initial neuroses, viscous like sludge. It had been embarrassing to touch, let alone kiss or—

And the first Nite Owl had walked in on them and he had immediately reverted to that earliest damnable shyness. Shameful, guilty, embarrassed, self-hating, insecure, scared Walter. He had to run on pure trust at first; trust for Daniel only as he held no trust for himself. He was doing it again now: trusting that Daniel would handle this for him and he could just go along with the motions like a marionette and hope that it would be enough.

_“Sometimes he still does.”_

The truth stung worse than any lashing.

***

“Danny,” His shoulders tensed for the assault he had allowed to breach the walls. Hollis leaned forward onto the table, eyes narrowed in an expression Dan was too petrified to read. “Does _he_ regret this?”

Dan opened his mouth to speak, to say something, anything, even through the doubt and the painful uncertainty, when both he and Hollis were distracted by the basement door squelching open followed by an emphatic, “No.” Hollis and Rorschach locked eyes in spite the mask, or maybe because of it. “I don’t.”

There were no words to explain the relief and validation he felt seeing his partner framed in the basement doorway like an owl perched before a full moon. Stiff, alert, poised. He was obviously not in his element, but willing to fight every step of the way. Daniel sneaked a warm smile behind his mentor’s back. Both of them breathed deeply to gain their bearings.

“Understand there are allegations about my character. Wouldn’t mind answering questions to assuage any doubt. Or to simply seem more personable.” He almost laughed at the thought that Rorschach’s reputation meant more to him than Dan. He knew for a fact it was blatantly untrue, which is why he found it amusing instead of insulting.

“Of course.” Hollis said with a lilt Dan identified as indulgence topped with a sprinkle of sarcasm. “Feel free to have a seat and join us.”

He didn’t aquiscence immediately, instead continuing to stare at Hollis. He spoke slowly: “…For someone who believes me dangerous you look less than startled, Mr. Mason. In fact, I’d say you look rather pleased.”

Dan couldn’t see Hollis’ expression from his angle, though he could see he was leisurely reclined against the backrest on an elbow. Indeed the image of someone who wasn’t frightened by a dangerous individual, and Dan felt it wasn’t his conditioning as a costumed adventurer.

“I suppose I do.” And there’s something of amusement in the tone. Hollis turned back to the table and took a long gulp of coffee.

Rorschach stood in the doorway for a moment longer, still staring, before starting back to life. He closed the door, shrugged off and folded his coat, sat it with his hat as the cherry on top on the kitchen counter behind them, and took a seat next to Dan. He sighed and his hands fidgeted under the table, but he stared straight ahead, waiting, ready, prepared (okay maybe not that last part exactly but hey that hadn’t exactly worked out that well for Dan), and determined.

Feeling a little refreshed with his presence, Dan reached a hand under the table and grasped one of Rorschach’s. The gloved fingers returned the grip after only a brief moment of hesitation. Dan watched his partner’s Adam’s apple bob from the meaningful contact. The hold shifted to a more normal handhold, and they held it together between them.

“I wish you boys had just done this from the beginning.”

***

Danny looked a little thrown off and Hollis had no idea how to read Rorschach’s body language. The not-so-secret hand-holding made him a little sick though, so he stared at his cooling coffee instead.

“You care about his well-being?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Would never hurt him?”

“Never.” The head dip betrayed a degree of ‘not intentionally,’ but Hollis could understand that sort of sentiment and nodded in acceptance.

“Cherish him?” And watched as Danny rolled his eyes.

“…yes.” It was much quieter than his previous emphatic answers, but he still forced it out past his embarrassment. The press would have a field day if they learned Rorschach could be cowed. The Underworld would… hmm. Perhaps that was part of it. Some people are more obsessed with their reputations than others. Danny was the type who didn’t care a lick what people thought of him except for his loved ones (and even then only a modicum). Piecing together what Danny’s said in the past, Rorschach was the opposite: caring too much about what everyone thought of him.

Danny smiled at his partner in encouragement, gratitude, and flattery. A feeling of warmth cut through the sickness.

“Willing to work hard to make this thing between you two work?”

He nodded brusquely, “Yes.” More firm.

Hollis sighed with relief that perhaps the worst was over now.

“I wanted to make sure,” he started on a different tone, “that you both understood what you were getting into. No sugarcoating. No rose-tinted glasses.” Suddenly he understood what his grandfather may have felt, trying to teach him things he resented years later. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the revelation. “Nelly was that way. Being an idealist is one thing. Being taken in by the delusion of those ideals is an entirely different kind of hell. Perhaps it’s old-fashioned of me, but I believe relationships must be maintained just like everything else: hard work. A little elbow grease may not fix everything. Sometimes you need parts or an extra set of hands. Sometimes the dang car’s broke good and no amount of fixing up will ever bring her back to her prime.”

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was taking this, but continued with whatever came to mind. This was a good old-fashioned monologue, hadn’t done one of those self-serving spiels on justice or public safety in years and was feeling a craving for it now that he’s had a taste.

“To put it simply, I’m glad you’re taking this seriously. Now, I’ll go ahead and admit I am having some… Okay, I’m having a lot of trouble coming to grips with the fact that you’re both men. It’s hard for me to grasp, understand, or comprehend, let alone accept; however, you’re completely right, Danny. It’s not my place to decide who you can and cannot love.” Avoiding the physical aspect because that’s the part that really skeeved him out. “And while I may have a hard time accepting it, I will work to, maybe not understand, but to support you as a friend should.”

Danny’s eyes refused to show relief, but the tension in his frame definitely slackened a bit. A relieved smile wormed its way through and shined with Dan’s inherent affability. Hollis had a feeling they were going to be okay.

“I can't promise not to judge either of you over this.” He said honestly. “Just don't... act on any of it in front of me if you would be so kind.”

"That's fair." Rorschach mumbled dejectedly, hand grip loosening. Dan obstinately kept his locked.

"For the record," Hollis spoke over Rorschach loudly, "I would lay down that same law if this were a straight... deal. I'm just really not interested in watching Danny macking on other people, whatever their gender."

"Fine." Dan's obviously not exactly happy with the arrangement, but mollified. "We'll keep things PG in front of you."

"Yes." Rorschach nodded, fairly reassured and in agreement in contrast to his partner.

Hollis let out another relieved sigh. That whole debacle had left him without reserve energy. He'd had a long day and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed.

“As fun and enlightening as this conversation has been,” he stood wearily, “I think I need to head back and hit the hay.” Everyone stood more or less together, various degrees of wariness and relief permeating the air. “I leave the superheroing to you kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first wrote this I was planning on something simple and straightforward. I was just as surprised as Dan when I realized Hollis was more worried about it being Rorschach, and when Rorschach grew a pair of tits and did something.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sap. This chapter is exhibit G.

Once goodbyes were said, tentative hug between a calmed Dan and Hollis given, Hollis went on his way with a tired, satisfied look in his eyes.

Leaving a slightly awkward Dan and Rorschach to shuffle and shift like embarrassed teenagers. They were grown men, for god’s sake, but you’d never know it just looking at them.

“That went well?” It wasn’t supposed to be a question, but it came out that way.

“It did?” Dan responded, and that wasn’t supposed to be a question either.

“Yes.” Rorschach answered anyways, hands hiding in his pockets. No, fidgeting. He was considering something.

“Anything on your mind?” Dan coaxed. Who knew how much of what was said he’d be expected to answer for.

“Hrmmm.” Was all he got in response, but it was with an affirmative lilt.

When Rorschach started pacing nervously up and down the entry hallway, Dan started feeling nervous right along with him. Both hands slipped out of their confines, each pulling his scarf in opposite directions. It slipped off slowly, wound thread off a spindle suddenly loose and pliant and held in hands like a set of manacles.

“…Something with your scarf?” Dan tried. All he got for his effort was the piece of fabric hooked on a forgotten nail that once held up a picture frame. And more pacing. Apparently not the scarf.

Now hands were hesitating at the point where his suit jacket v-ed into buttons. Sometimes hovering, sometimes fidgeting with the fabric. Still pacing.

That pacing was going to send Dan into a fit of anxiety (or maybe madness) if he had to watch it much longer, so he walked over and sought out a way to still it.

It wasn’t hard; Rorschach stopped as soon as Dan was within five feet, looking bashful. Just as Dan opened his mouth to pry a second time, Rorschach interjected with a partial explanation. “Want to… I want to…”

He seemed to have trouble articulating the next part. Dan watched as one of the itching fingers fell back to pull at his mask. Finally, he understood the full picture.

“…is this about what Hollis said?” Dan asked tentatively.

Rorschach nodded in response. A second later he added, “It is… odd. For one of us to be…” He stalled on nervousness again. As if not pointing out the subject directly would allow them to pretend the offer had never been put on the table to begin with should it come to that.

“It is.” Dan conceded because it definitely was. “And I would really like to get to know the man behind the mask. You must know that.”

Rorschach’s hands jumped in a way that practically shouted, “Yes, but I still can’t believe it.”

Dan wasn’t 100% on what he wanted here. He wanted to see, god did he want the mask to no longer be a permanent fixture of their relationship anymore. But he also had months of experience being Rorschach’s lover to understand that while the man might be okay with something one moment, he might regret it wholeheartedly the next. And as much as Dan wanted to meet the man, he was more than willing to wait a bit longer if it was necessary. This was by no means a casual relationship, after all. Heaven knows he wouldn’t have put in half as much time and energy into this if he wasn’t serious about it. 

“We can wait a few days.” He suggested. “Let tonight’s events stew for a bit. No need to rush.”

He stilled, considering, but eventually replied, “Would prefer to do this sooner rather than later.” Dan didn’t quite comprehend his reasoning, though he sounded vaguely self-conscious.

Before he could attempt any further dissuasion, hands were moving in frantic, unsure patterns. After an ounce of time, they steadied on positions and pulled. He was still quite nervy as he slipped the mask off; his head downturned and movements slow. Stubborn as always, though, he locked eyes with Dan once it was off, practically defiant in his glare.

Which fit perfectly with the fact that he kind of looked like an overgrown ten year old.

A warm smile crossed Dan’s lips as he reached out to cup his boyfriend’s face. The defiant glare stayed, but furtively glanced at Dan’s wrist like he expected it to burst into flame and brand him. Dan leaned in, staring back into those hard eyes without flinching.

“Blue.” He said. “Cute.”

The response was not so cute. Except that it was. The comment had apparently caught Rorschach so off guard that he’d breathed wrong and started up a coughing fit. Dan rubbed soothing circles over his back until it stopped and his lover looked back up at him, face an unflattering strawberry red. Disgruntled blame rested in those eyes now, of which Dan took no guilt from.

Instead he encircled the tiny man into a hug and heaved a sigh into his hair. Orange. Bright messy orange. And Dan did not _care_.

“Walter.” He heard muttered into his chest. “Kovacs.”

“Hello, Walter.” He tried on his tongue. He felt a delightful shiver in response that told him it would have an even more powerful effect on the man than Rorschach and relished the knowledge.

***

“Hooded Justice was homosexual?”

Having pushed his boyfriend against a wall to start the process of ravishing his body, Dan wasn’t quite prepared for the tangent. He rolled with it, though, and answered, “Very.” He chuckled a little before continuing. “Captain Metropolis, too. Same with Silhouette.”

“Hurm.” Rorschach chewed over that for a moment, letting Dan slide his hands under that wonderful pinstripe suit and undo the vest underneath. “Was the entirety of the Minutemen gay?”

Dan couldn’t resist chortling briefly against Walter’s chest. “I’m pretty sure Sally, the Comedian, and Hollis are straight. And I also think Mothman and Dollar Bill were more like us: where it just happened that the person they loved were of the same sex.”

It kind of just came out that way, freely and smoothly, like canola oil dripping off a spoon. It felt like the natural thing to say; no meaning really put behind it, no thought put into its construction. Puzzle pieces falling into their preordained spots. Yet there it was, suddenly sitting between the two of them. Dan had already recognized it himself, no shame behind the sentiment; although perhaps there was a modicum of embarrassment attached to the thought. He wondered if maybe it was just being left unsaid between the two of them; if Rorschach was too uncomfortable with such intimacy. He couldn’t help but smile when, after only a miniscule hesitation, Walter leaned down into his hair and said, “I love you, too.”


End file.
